Friedman IR-J Jake E. Lee Signature Dual-tube Preamp New | In Stock

Jake E Lee ranks high on the shortlist of influential gunslinger guitarists that emerged as the heroes of a new generation in the early ‘80s.  Best known for his burning guitar work and innovative songwriting, Lee contributed to two of Ozzy Osbourne’s most revered albums, 1983’s Bark at the Moon and 1986’s Ultimate Sin.

With Ozzy, his post-Ozzy band, Badlands and most recently, with his own group, Red Dragon Cartel, Lee’s playing embraced the athleticism of the ‘80s while remaining firmly rooted in the hard rock fundamentals of the ‘70s.  Jake’s tonal choices provide the evolutionary glue between the sonics of those two great eras.

Following the massively successful release of the limited edition JEL-100 and JEL-20 signature heads, Jake E Lee and Dave Friedman have teamed-up, once again, using their legendary ears and talents to create the new IR-J, a signature all-tube direct solution that offers Lee’s ultimate tones in a compact pedal board friendly format.   

In Lee’s own words, “Dave has an innate understanding of where I’m coming from as a player and we’re alike in the way we hear tones. Dave doesn’t hear things as a technician, he hears things like a musician, and that made him really easy to work with. I grew up in the ‘70s and those muscular, articulate rock tones were the tones I always sought, but I made a name for myself in the ‘80s when you needed a little more aggression and a little more scream. I’ve always tried to retain a little of that ‘70s heart and I still do, and that’s what this preamp does — though it’s got plenty more on tap if you need it!” 

All-Tube Preamp, IR Technology, Compact Size

The Friedman IR-J dual-channel tube preamp is an entire Friedman rig in a compact pedalboard-friendly package.

IR-J boasts two fully independent foot-switchable channels based on Friedman’s legendary JEL-100 and JEL-20 designs which are rooted in Dave’s modded ‘800/PLEXI circuits.

Powered by two high-voltage 12AX7 preamp tubes, each channel delivers deep harmonic richness and the touch response of a large format Friedman tube amp.  The SYNERGY powered, state of the art, ultra-low latency, DSP IR cabinet/power amp simulation sends a studio-quality mic’d-up tone to your DAW or Front-of-House.  The IR-J provides easy-to-use controls without complex menus and 100-page manuals.

All-Tube Friedman Tone

IR-J isn’t simulating a Friedman tube preamp. It is one. While other preamp pedals utilize tubes to ‘warm up’ their digital or solid-state circuit, two glowing hot 12AX7 preamp tubes, running at over 300 Volts, are the IR-J’s beating heart. A genuine preamp in every way, IR-J delivers all the tone, response, gain characteristics, and harmonic complexity you expect from a Friedman design.

2 Independent Channels with Boost

The IR-J features two fully independent foot-switchable channels with Volume, Gain, 3-Band EQ, Boost Volume and switches for Bright and IR select.  Channel 2 includes a two-position gain structure switch. Like the famed Friedman flagship amps, Channel 1 takes your tone from bluesy, British-voiced cleans to a muscular Plexi-style roar. Engage Channel 2 for the Friedman signature higher-gain JEL voice and all the percussive punch, note clarity and singing sustain that comes with it. Use the lower gain switch setting to access the classic 800 style preamp circuit everyone knows and loves.

Dual Independent ts style Boosts

Both channels feature their own independent and highly tweakable TS style Boost circuits (a first in the Friedman IR line). Each Boost has a dedicated Tone and Volume for maximum control. This famous Green machine is well known in the world of ‘800 style amps and will complement the tone nicely. This essentially gives you four channels, accessible with the tap of your foot.

ULTRA LOW LATENCY

The IR-J combines high-voltage tube preamp tone with a powerful digital engine for impulse responses and power amp simulation. The oversized 500 Mhz ARM DSP processor is utilized solely for these two functions resulting in performance that is vastly better than competing products. How good? 50ms Impulse Response length in under 1ms of latency! This is compared to most products today which are only capable of achieving 20ms IR length at 1ms latency. At 20ms length the resolution is only 48hz, meaning the impulse response will mostly sound the same under 150hz – these are the critical frequencies where “punch” lives.

Impulse Response Cabinet and Power Amp Simulation

All great tube amps need a great speaker cabinet, and whether sending your signal straight to the board or silently playing through the onboard headphone output, IR-J gives you a selection of Dave Friedman’s favorite IRs.  For the release of the IR-J, Dave has enlisted his friends at OwnHammer to provide a few new custom ones.

Select the IR per channel using the 3-way mini toggle switches or load your own quickly and easily via Friedman’s editing software. You can even disengage the onboard IRs entirely to use IR-J’s tube preamp with another IR loader. 

18 Friedman Cabinet IRs Included:  The Friedman Editor software includes 18 free Friedman IRs to choose from.  The first three listed below are the ones which are factory set to the hardware.

1. OH BE-412 M6402

16-ohm, 6402 cone Celestion G12M-75’s from 1989 captured in a Friedman BE-412 cabinet by Kevin Rowe of OwnHammer using Shure SM57 and Sennheiser MD421 microphones through mid-late 1970’s API 312 preamps.

2. OH BE-412 M75BB

16-ohm, 1777 cone Celestion “Black Back” G12M-75’s from 1975 captured in a Friedman BE-412 cabinet by Kevin Rowe of OwnHammer using Shure SM57 and Sennheiser MD421 microphones through mid-late 1970’s API 312 preamps.

3. OH BE-412 EV12L

8-ohm Electro Voice EVM-12L’s from 1989 captured in a Friedman BE-412 cabinet by Kevin Rowe of    OwnHammer using Shure SM57, Sennheiser MD421, and Royer 121 microphones through mid-late 1970’s API 312 preamps.

Flexible Rig Integration

The IR-J’s transparent and programmable effects loop allows you to easily integrate your favorite effects with everything from the most straightforward setups to the most complex digitally controlled rigs.

IR-J Integration

All-In-One

IR-J’s surprisingly compact size turns your pedalboard into your entire rig. Run your favorite dirt pedals and filters directly into the IR-J’s input as you would with any amplifier and place your favorite time-based effects in the effects loop. Now send all that tone directly to the board with the stunning-sounding benefits of IR technology.

Standalone Preamp

Do you want all the benefits of IR-J’s all-tube preamp section but prefer a live cabinet onstage? No problem. Simply connect the effects loop Send to your time-based effects and then to your amps power section. You can still send the IR output to the console to avoid the hassles of live mic’ing the cabinet (see manual for details).

IR-Loader

To utilize IR-J’s IR technology independently of the preamp section, just plug your preferred preamp or pedals into its effects loop return. It’s a great way to harness all of its power amp and speaker simulation onstage or in the studio.

Expanded MIDI Control

IR-J is MIDI-capable. Whether pulling up presets with a pedalboard controller or switching channels with the laptop running your entire show, IR-J is ready for the job. It truly is the perfect marriage of modern control and classic tube tone.

IR-J Editor Software

IR-J gives you astounding tonal control, but its included Friedman Editor software takes it to a new level. With it, you can tweak each channel’s power amp simulation via the Thump, Presence, Low-Pass Filter controls, load your favorite IRs, activate the Boost Lock feature, select loop ON/OFF and save it all to 128 MIDI presets.